More than a half-century after Arnold Schoenberg pioneered his twelve-tone system of composition, the world of classical music is still embroiled in a raging debate over the direction of compositional form, centered on the thorny question of just how much complexity audiences can and will tolerate. But two of America’s leading composers point out that the debate may be less about music at this point than ideology. “Most of these perceptions [of serial vs. tonal music] come not from hearing or knowing the music but from reading what someone has written about it… the biggest problem with the perception about the 12-tone system is absolutely akin to the perception of Schoenberg – that it’s become a journalistic cudgel.”
Tag: 03.27.05
Is American Idol Killing The Broadway Sound?
The way performers sing in Broadway musicals is changing, and not for the better, says Ben Brantley. “Close your eyes and listen as their larynxes stretch and vibrate with the pain of being an underdog and the joy of being really loud. Bet you can’t tell them apart. For that matter, bet you can’t distinguish the heroines of the current Broadway musicals Wicked, Little Women and Brooklyn from the average female finalist on American Idol… The accent is on abstract feelings, usually embodied by people of stunning ordinariness, than on particular character. Quivering vibrato, curlicued melisma, notes held past the vanishing point: the favorite technical tricks of Idol contestants are often like screams divorced from the pain or ecstasy that inspired them.”
A Soprano Writ Small(er)
Acclaimed soprano Deborah Voigt, fired from a production of Ariadne auf Naxos by a London opera company last March because she was too fat to fit into the costume that had been designed for her character, underwent gastric bypass surgery in June 2004, and has since lost 100 pounds. Voigt had made the decision to have the procedure done before she was sacked by the Royal Opera House, a public humiliation compounded by the fact that Ariadne is her signature role. The surgery was not without risk: “Opera singers who lose significant amounts of weight have been known to lose vocal luster as well, Maria Callas being the most notable example.” But Ms. Voigt has been performing regularly in the months since her recovery, and has been continued to garner rave reviews.